


Cold Comfort

by integral_love



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), UnDeadwood (Web Series)
Genre: Arabella has the potential to be scary as hell and I am living for it, Gen, and I am serious when I am saying hints. There is nothing more to see here, hints of pining and a potential relationship but nothing more, protect the Reverend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22866598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/integral_love/pseuds/integral_love
Summary: In the months after Clayton Sharpe's death life in Deadwood calmed down considerably. For Matthew Mason that means returning to the life of a Reverend. It also means he has friends now. Sometimes him and Miriam talk about the people of Deadwood, sometimes they talk about the snakes and magic that haunts their dreams. Mostly they avoid talking about the people they were unable to keep as close as they wanted to.
Relationships: Reverend Matthew Mason & Miriam Landisman
Kudos: 21





	Cold Comfort

It had been months since Reverend Matthew Mason’s life had taken a surprising turn. His brush with magic and the undead had certainly changed him, had left scars and weariness in its wake but in some ways it seemed to have helped his sermons for more people turned up these days than ever before. At least Matthew liked to think so but it was entirely possible the people who came to church were just humouring him. Either way Matthew did not mind the company. The church was never really full unless there was a burial but it was less empty than before with the ladies of the Saloon, Miriam and Arabella paying the occasional visit. Even Fogg came by when he could.

The first few weeks after Sharpe’s death Matthew had tried his best to keep their group close and in some ways he supposed he had succeeded. After leaving initially a mixture of guilt and the need to explain himself had driven Fogg back to Deadwood to seek out their group. It had not been easy and still was not but they made it work and ever since that first conversation Fogg seemed to return to Deadwood at least once a month to talk to them. He was a bounty hunter and did not stay, could not stay for long, but in some ways they seemed to have become a sort of home for the man and though Matthew pretended not to notice it seemed every time Fogg had stayed a night or two he had been just a bit more relaxed. The conversations Fogg had with Miriam in particular seemed to have helped and Matthew assumed it was a mixture of the woman’s sharp intuition and her acceptance after her initial anger and judgement. Miriam, too, had become somewhat of a fixture in Matthew’s life though in ways he had never thought she would. Her visits to mass were sporadic but she made a point of coming to see Matthew once a week for tea. Both of their lives were entangled in the things happening in Deadwood and both of them knew a bit too much about the lives of people surrounding them. Miriam, while officially only the owner of a small shop these days, was known around town as the person to go to when someone needed things not officially available. Thus it was important for her to know just a little bit more about people than the average person. It helped that she was smart and observant, too. Matthew, in turn, was the Reverend after all and though few people frequented his church and confessed their sins people rarely had their guard up around him and he got a glimpse beyond the curtains more often than he personally wanted to. Thus Miriam and him had tea once a week and used the time to catch each other up on the things happening in Deadwood. Some might say they were gossiping but Matthew found both of their lives were easier when they were prepared for issues they might be faced with the coming week. It was practical, really, nothing more. And if they talked about the demons that haunted their dreams every now and then, the snakes they saw in the corner of their eyes, the shudder they felt when someone threw up in the streets that had nothing to do with the stench of alcohol, then that was just as well. At least they dealt with their problems.

On one of these days, with a coffee in hand and Miriam on a chair opposite of him, Matthew felt as though they had failed. He was not sure whether it was the weariness in Miriam’s voice or the fact that she said what he had known for weeks now but suddenly the coffee tasted stale and he wanted nothing more than to open the bottle of whiskey Miriam had brought.

_“I haven’t seen Arabella in months. Well I have seen her but that is the extent of it.”_

The way Miriam looked at him as she said it made Matthew think she was assessing his reaction. She did not seem hopeful, though, but rather expected him to confirm that she was not the only one.

_“She comes to mass once a week but you are right I haven’t really seen **her** in a while.”_

The youngest member of their group was somewhat of a sore subject for all of them. They had managed to keep her close for a few weeks after Sharpe’s death but while it had appeared as though she had looked to them for comfort and answers it was not long before they had found out just how capable Arabella was at avoiding people. In some ways they felt they might see as much of her as her husband did. It had been a cold comfort to hear about the things she did from other people. Miriam in particular had been somewhat vexed when she had found out the young woman she had felt protective of managed to be in regular contact with the ladies of the Saloon without Miriam ever seeing her. It bothered her because Miriam herself had become close friends with the ladies and visited them often, or at least that was the reason she had given then. Matthew imagined Miriam was more hurt by the fact that though the women had been close Arabella had more or less shut her out of her life and kept using Miriam's own tactics of acting the kind social lady against her. It was not a thought he would share with Miriam though. They certainly talked about many things but as honest as the woman was she was not necessarily forthcoming with her own feelings. Maybe one day when there were fewer things to worry about. Still they had taken comfort in people mentioning Arabella if only because it meant the younger woman was doing at least somewhat okay. Hearing about Arabella had become less comforting when Sherriff Bullock had told them Doc Cochran’s books had been stolen from where he had kept them save.

_“She can't possibly have found something in these books, can she? And even if she did she shot her sister in the head. There should be no way…”_

Matthew knew how uncertain he sounded as he trailed off. It was not so much the fact that he thought Arabella capable of returning Cynthia to life that worried him but Arabella had been desperate before and while things had not worked out then, while she had not gotten a shot at trying, he had seen something in her then that had scared him just enough to be weary of what she was capable of and willing to do.

Miriam’s voice was even when she answered but Matthew could see in her eyes that he was getting closer to why she had brought Arabella up.

_“I think so, too. Arabella knew magic before we did and did not know how to return Cynthia then so even if she learnt anything new I don’t think that’s what it is. Still…. How did she seem the last time you saw her?”_

This, Matthew realised, was the question Miriam had wanted to ask since the beginning. Something or someone had tipped her off. Maybe she, too, had seen Arabella in the last few days. Either way there was no avoiding it anymore.

_“She was fine, calm. Talked to a few women after mass. It was unnerving to see her move through society to easily. But I supposeut it has been since the beginning when she... well...",  
_

A part of Matthew wanted to say left because in her own way she had left them but he could not bring himself to do so. It felt too much like giving up on her.

_"When she said goodbye though…”,_

Matthew shuddered, remembering the moment with a clarity he remembered few things with,

_“…when she said goodbye and handed me some money for the church there was something in the air. It’s hard to describe but it felt almost like the magic we know. Almost. But it seemed to linger around her.”_

Even as he said it the memory made his skin crawl. Matthew wished he had lingered a bit longer with any of the other people, wished he had been able to let Arabella leave without trying to reach out to her, wished they had been able to keep her close all those months ago. The memory of the energy surrounding Arabella still made the hairs on his arms stand up and sent a shiver down his spine. If Matthew was honest with himself he would admit he had known for a while Arabella would do something but even in his wildest fantasies she had never managed to make him quite as terrified as she had in the moment her hand had brushed his. Wish a sigh Matthew shook himself from his thoughts and looked at his friend.

Miriam, in turn, seemed equally as lost in her thoughts as Matthew had been just moments before. When she spoke her eyes were set on something far beyond Matthews shoulder and her voice was soft.

_“I have to admit I talked to her a few days ago. She was almost like she had been when we first met her. Almost. At first I put it down to Mr. Whitlock being out of town but then I felt the same thing you did. When she let her guard down it was almost overpowering. She was walking with me, talking to me, smiling at me and I felt like the whole room around her was filled with some sort of magic. None else seemed to have felt it so I had almost dismissed it but it clung to her and when she left the magic was gone.”_

They left it at that for most of the afternoon until the time Miriam was about to leave. Their need for reassurance was impossible to deny then and they made their way up to the graveyard in tense silence. Only when they found nothing amiss did the tension leave their bodies. At least for now their worst fears were nothing but fears. They could only hope it stayed that way.

The next time Matthew saw Arabella the energy around her was gone. She seemed more tired than before and looked like she had not slept particularly well but other than that it appeared she was more at ease than she had been in months. Matthew dared not to think too much about the reasons for it.

Two weeks after their conversation and impromptu visit to the graveyard Miriam and Matthew found themselves invited to Arabella’s home. Neither had been sure what to expect and Miriam had been quite fussy with preparations, had made sure they brought food just as well as guns and had even made sure to prepare for some conversations. But whatever they had thought might happen nothing, not even their wildest speculations, could have prepared them for the moment Clayton Sharpe appeared over Arabella’s shoulder. Faintly Matthew felt Miriam stiffen up beside him, then the world turned fuzzy. No thought quite managed to form properly as he watched Sharpe and Arabella interact. He thought he must have asked a question, or maybe it had been Miriam, for Arabella told them about what she had found in Cochran’s books and how she had brought Sharpe back. Sharpe, he found, was distinctly less impressed by Arabella’s actions than Matthew felt or Miriam looked and the man was just as snarky when speaking with Arabella as he had been before his death. Still, Matthew felt a sting when he noticed the way Sharpe stayed just at Arabella’s side and the way the other man’s shoulders tensed and eyes hardened when they asked what price the younger woman had payed. The answer they got was likely a lie if the way Sharpe's fist clenched around the back of Arabella's chair was any indicator. Well either that or the man did not know either. Either would explain why he seemed displeased with having been brought back from the dead. The man had died refusing to harm Fogg, Arabella making any form of sacrifice of his life would not sit well with him Matthew mused. 

By the time they left Matthew felt only marginally less frazzled and the sting in his heart had become a dull pain he did not wish to examine. Miriam’s hand on his arm was a comfort Matthew was very thankful for but even though she seemed more calm and collected than Matthew felt he could see the same uncertainty he felt behind their eyes. A man who had been shot in the middle of the streets of Deadwood was alive and while neither of them minded it too much for it seemed like Clayton Sharpe was himself and not anyone’s puppet they knew explanations would become necessary and it was probably for the best not to tell the whole town about the magic Arabella was capable of. Or even of the fact that something like that was possible at all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I am just fascinated with all the ways their group could fall apart and the possible desperation that might come with what happened so this is really just me trying to deal with those ideas. I hope you enjoy them all the same.


End file.
